To miss the first lockdown?

[TidyOchreReader]

I know it was a tough time for many but I genuinely loved that first lockdown. I think about it all the time. There was something strangely blissful about slowing down, having fewer obligations and just focusing on connecting with people - even though we couldn’t physically see them. And when you did see someone, the gratitude was immense. AIBU to feel nostalgic for that time?

Yes, I really relate to that duality. On the surface I sometimes remember the quiet, the walks, the sky seeming bluer but underneath that was so much fear and unknown. I hadn’t heard that stat about EHCP’s but that’s incredibly telling. It shows how deep and long-lasting the impact really was, even in ways that might not be obvious at first glance.

I came out of retirement to work (nurse) YABU

I too had a positive experience of the first lockdown. I was suddenly WFH and then furloughed for 4 weeks. After being in office 5 days a week. My DH couldn’t go to work so was home all the time, when previously we’d been (and are now again) ships in the night. The weather was lovely and I remember me, DH, and DS aged 3 just in a little bubble. Obviously that feeling didn’t last long but I do look back and it felt like a real pause.

I was one of the lucky ones not to personally suffer from lockdown directly but my god, the reaction to Covid destroyed so many lives and has done irreparable damage to the country’s finances. The impact on children on so many levels was devastating.

I find the idea of being nostalgic for lockdown frankly sickening.

The other thing that really bothers me are the number of children still entirely unaccounted for.

Whilst I enjoyed spending time with my DH and DD. No, I wouldn't go back to it. Too many other bad things happened. My dad had a heart attack (thankfully he recovered) but we could not visit him and my active yet elderly grandparents started to decline in their mobility. This was due no longer being able to go out and socialise. Missing school and her friends was less than ideal for my DD who was only 10 at the time.

I do remember the threads on here were absolute horrendous.

My main lasting memories from the first lockdown were being unable to visit my dad who was in a care home with dementia. Also going to a cousin's funeral, and being one of only seven mourners as nobody else was local, so they were not allowed to travel. Not something I want to return to thanks.

It was fine. It was easy for us. No real downsides other than home schooling being annoying and tedious.

But I wouldnt ever voice that in real life as I know it was horrific for many. I think this OP was naive in the extreme.

@nomas

You can express your view but saying that you’re going to ram your view down everybody’s throat until they stop sharing their own views is frankly absurd.

Define the difference between "expressing my view" and "ramming my view down everybody's throat"?

I feel very strongly about this and I'm not holding back. The OP has started a thread likely knowing full well that it's pretty triggering for a lot of people. Which is her right. Its my right to say I think its insensitive, simplistic, unoriginal and in poor taste.

I completely disagree that introversion is a modern invention that has something to do with covid. I’d say forced extreme sociability is a modern invention and lock down was temporary respite. When I was at school in the 70s and 80s learning in groups wasn’t a thing. When I started work in the 90s, open plan offices were not ubiquitous and universal. This thing of everyone jostling in noisy groups all the time is a peculiarly “now” thing and it really doesn’t suit everyone. In the past there were loads of solitary jobs. The Industrial Revolution forced people together into concentrated groups in small spaces to be managed according to uniform standards and tightly controlled areas, for the benefit of bosses. It’s only one way to manage being busy and productive and it’s very stressful. For some

Your gut wasn't working overtime. You were just right when most people weren't.

The lockdown legislation was designed to cover two years. Many countries were having prolonged furlough packages. only a fool believed in three weeks or whatever it was to get the NHS ready. They didn't write all that legislation and organise the furlough to cover a short period of time.

Maybe those people were in denial?

Other posters have commented on privilege. It is a really stinking level of privilege to say how much you enjoyed lockdown. If someone posted how rich they were and how cost of living crisis was just passing them by, and they were really enjoying themselves in a seven star hotel,they would be rightly criticised.

It's also still astonishing to me that people had such a great time without even thinking about all the people keeping essential services together. These are the same wankers who complain about their food delivery being late - it never even occurs to them to think that somebody's actually keeping food production together while they sit there thinking "ooh - a slower pace of life, how marvellous" and clearly neither they nor their loved ones got sick.

I also wonder if these posts are some kind of government nudge experiment.

Who is sitting around on a sunny evening thinking "I know, I'll start a thread about lockdown". That's just weird. And it's happened too many times.

I have friends that were doctors on the Covid wards, and they never speak of it, whatever happened on those wards it was unspeakable.

why? Why should they not have a positive memory? It affects no one. It wasn't their decision to have a lockdown anyway.

Is no one allowed to have a good time when you don't?

I get what you are saying but we need to remember that for many people it was incredibly hard and so many people died. Our lives were pretty idyllic, work was quiet, wfh for first time ever, live in a nice place with beaches and farmland, kids grown up though they missed us, yet it was far worse for others so yabu

People are blindly rushing in to condemn you because "Covid bad" (no shit) but this is really a valid point about fast-paced modern life. I remember the reflections well at the time. During Covid, there was the lack of constant traffic, flights, holidays, keeping-up-with-the-Joneses, bullshit non-keyworker jobs, celebrity idolisation... Suddenly the stuff that really mattered was obvious collectively. It was a return to contemplative simple living*.

And five years on, it's as if nothing of benefit was learned as we all speed up again to be uselessly busy for industry once more.

*FOR SOME

You don’t get it do you it’s highly insensitive to post about your positive experience when there was so much suffering going on.

If someone posted how rich they were and how cost of living crisis was just passing them by, and they were really enjoying themselves in a seven star hotel,they would be rightly criticised.

plenty of people are starting thread about holidays, luxury holidays, house extension, upsizing their homes, or insanely expensive weddings, or what best party to dress to buy, worth hundreds of pounds.

No one should hide their reality because someone is less lucky.

You are incredibly privileged to safely complain from the privacy of your own home, you realise that?

Even seeing the title of this thread upset me.

Lockdown stole the remnants of my husband's quality of life. I had to organise and attend my his funeral during lockdown - not the first one. I wouldn't wish that on anyone.

It's made me more cynical. I had to select my husband's coffin from an online catalogue. Everything was done by phone or computer.

Once all the arrangements were made, however, it was mandatory for me to go into the funeral director's office in person in order to sign the document saying that I would pay for his funeral.

No, my point was that OP does not need lockdown to enjoy certain aspects of it again.

There was very real suffering, I don’t think anyone is denying that. But all this people who are outraged that some people got a form of relief from it: turn it around on yourself and realise that the ultra social hegemony of life “working normally” is so hellish for some that even lock down had a silver lining. If you can take the outrage down enough to listen for 20 seconds

@minnienono That’s life everyday though isn’t it. People suffering, others not. But we don’t constantly play down our experiences.

A personal reflection is just that, and I consider MN within that realm. The passage of time is not perhaps sufficient for people to scream their positive feelings about lockdown out loud, but as I say, MN is a discussion forum.

don't be ridiculous. There is ALWAYS suffering going on. You can't pick and chose which one is acceptable to you.

If someone starts a thread with such a positive title, step away if it's triggering.

You are the one who could be accused of derailing the thread by turning into negatives...

@RichHolidayPoorHoliday the big difference is they don't usually title their thread "I know some of you are really struggling financially, but can I tell you about my new kitchen?"

No. I worked my arse off. I’ve never had to work harder or smarter. I remember Richy Smarmack saying ‘we are all in the same boat’. What a wank stain. We might have been in the same storm but I sure as hell was not in the same boat as him or Michelle Moan for that matter 😡